This short free write is based on a writing prompt I saw online. The prompt is not mine, but the writing is. Write about not being able to see ahead of you.

My attempts to find a shred of light in the dark abyss were in vain. There was nothing but emptiness and everything was covered in a drab grey blanket. Every direction I turned there seemed to be a dense cloud, trapping me, confining me. My other senses were heightened in place of my impaired vision, but I wish they hadn’t. They intensified my fear. My eardrums tingled at the whistling wind that entwined itself in the creaking tree branches and my arms prickled at the slightest kiss of the chilling evening air. Darkness wrapped itself around my body and placed a tight blindfold over my frantic eyes.

I looked down at my feet, or at least I tried. I wiggled my toes, just making sure they were still there even if I couldn’t see them. Every day I had counted on my trustworthy feet to carry me exactly where I needed to go, but today was different. They didn’t know where to go. It was almost like the GPS in my feet were shut down, like my toes had lost their sense of direction, like my heels were permanently glued to the ground. The thick, smokey world around me shackled my feet to fear and uncertainty. Ironically, taking a leap of faith into the abyss was my only option.

Outstretching my frozen hands, I waved into the void and found emptiness. Each swipe into the nothingness looming before me brought another wave of chills that ran down my back. With a sharp intake of cold breath, I drew up the courage to place one foot in front of me. The dry earth beneath me crunched with a magnificent sound that seemed to echo around me. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to take the next step. Breath by breath and step by step, I teetered my way down the road.

After awhile, pitch black darkness still hindered my sight and all I could hear was my jagged breath. It seemed that I had been trekking for hours and miles, but with the blackness clouding the path behind me, it was hard to tell how far I had actually walked. By now, fear had stopped pulsing through my veins and exhaustion seeped into my bones. The adrenaline that had rushed through my body earlier tired me. My eyelids felt so heavy, but closing them was no different than holding them open and somehow, holding them open made me feel a little braver. Each step required more energy than the last and my arms slowly stopped waving in front of my body. The very feet that carried me this far wanted so desperately to give up. Through the smoke, fog and haze, I felt more hopeless and alone than ever.

-Jessica T.